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"Positive Nitpicking" - What you loved about the episode [NO SPOILERS]


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SPOILERS:



What I liked:


Grenn's epic death


Allister being a badass


Jon being a hero


Including mammoths and giants


Sam telling Pyp to open the fucking door


Pyp's sad death


Edd's anchor


The tracking shot of Castle Black


The giant's arrow flinging a crow off the other end of the wall


The people hanging off the wall whilst shooting arrows


Jon's face getting smashed against an anvil, just showed how much Jon is willing to do for the good of the realm


Mance's Fire


Tormund and Thorne's fight




What I didn't like:


Fade to white, so now Stannis's big moment is going to be early on in the last episode


Horn of Winter still has to be mentioned


Not enough Ghost


Love being the theme

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I liked the long-shot fire FX, looking down at the burning forest from the top of the wall. Fire FX can look pretty bad, but I thought this fire was perfect.



I've seen some some folks say that fire looked fake. But lemmetellya, I live in San Diego and a few weeks ago we had some fire down here. During that week, I found myself running an errand a little after dusk where the view in front of me was a very large hill, with one of its lower ridgelines totally on fire. I'd say the fire line was about a quarter mile long and the flames were 10-20 feet high all along it. And as it got darker and darker that orange-red blow grew so scary and beautiful and captivating and despairing and dramatic.



Real fire looks like S04E09 fire. They did good.

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There was a lot to like.



That 360 degree shot, though, it's so impressive in so many ways. A battle scene has never felt more real to me. I wonder how long it took to get it right. It still wasn't as impressive as that reeeaaally long tracking shot in True Detective, but then again I can't think of any camerawork that's impressed me as much as that tracking shot.


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Yeah the camera work was amazing this episode.

Also Kit this season seems like a different actor. So much confidence, and it showed this episode, especially in the fight scene with Styr, he moved gracefully, it was fun to watch.

Which is another point I think is being undersold, Styr looked absolutely huge and intimidating, especially with that battle axe.

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There was a lot to like.

That 360 degree shot, though, it's so impressive in so many ways. A battle scene has never felt more real to me. I wonder how long it took to get it right. It still wasn't as impressive as that reeeaaally long tracking shot in True Detective, but then again I can't think of any camerawork that's impressed me as much as that tracking shot.

Yeah this! The cinematography was great in this episode. Conveyed the massive scope of things so well. The action was fluid, smooth, easy to follow. In large scale action sequences many directors rely too much on quick cuts and disorientation (some Lord of the Rings scenes come to mind). The approach in this episode was hectic, but still graceful.

I also like brave Sam! Wasn't expecting him to come out of his shell so quickly, but it really worked for me. Similar to what they did with Sansa, but more natural.

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Don't matter how much of a badass Thorne, Grenn, Sam, Jon, Tormund, Hob(!) and ygritte were this episode, Neill Marshall takes the cake. His camera work was off the charts. Ghosts point of view. The owl cut to the warg. The Giant archer kill followed all the way over the wall. The birdsview shot beginning with Tormund and styr's party charging, flowing over castle black, all the way up the wall ending with the burning forrest and the wildlings, mammoth and giants. The shoulder mounted view of Mags charging toward Grenn & co. The excellent views and cuts during the Tormund vs Thorne and Jon vs Styr fights. The first person shooter arrow shots of ygritte. And best of all the 30 second 360 around the castle with fighting everywhere, this was some of the best camera work i have ever seen in either tv or cinema. Shows that 3D is overrated. Only thing u need to make great looking spectacle is an outstanding director.


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I especially liked the little nod to book readers having a normal archer fail at even reaching halfway up the wall but then introducing a giant with a bow. That was hilarious.

Yeah that was a cool moment. I laughed(out loud) and wondered if it was because D&D read online commenters complaining about the unrealism in the book, or if they only realized normal archers wouldn't work when they started filming the episode.

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I'm paraphrasing just a touch: "Hell yeah, my plan sucks balls--but what's YOURS?" Jon, grieving, angry, tired, beat to shit, but determined...his bloodshot eyes glowing...still has THIS amusing parting shot in him! I came away from this ep a solid Kit fan.

Another vote for the panoramic shot. This is TV...WHO DOES THAT? Just kick-ass.

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Jon vs Styr especially when the former used Karl Tanner's spitting trick


Edd and the scythe


Jon taking charge and being a badass


Sam killing the thenn warg


Ghost unleashed


Giant shooting the arrow that sent the man flying


Giants & mammoths


Thorne admitting he was wrong and goes out like a boss


Aemon Targaryen


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I wonder how many viewers, Unsullied especially, had a nasty flashback of Oberyn's death when Jon's head met the anvil.

Not sure about Jon's head meeting the anvil, but I certainly had Oberyn flashbacks when that one wildling put a dagger through the eye of a NW brother. It fit perfectly into the scene, but all I could think was "oh gods, not the eyes again..."

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